How Did I Miss It?
by Baxter54132
Summary: Rangiku was always very good at spotting relationships, sometimes before the couple even knew it for themselves, but this time, well... how did she miss it? HitsuKarin one-shot


I wanted to get back to my roots, and HitsuKarin was truly my first serious ship. I love them with all my heart and I want to do them justice.

I'm sure Rangiku has her own opinions about Karin and Toshiro, and she is probably the person who sees the two of them together the most.

**I did some editing on this on 1/29/13, fixed some of my excessive use of the comma. I also turned the 'thoughts' into **_**thoughts.**_

_Insert typical disclaimer~_

_None of the following is owned by myself, nor is anything I have posted under this name, if you sue me, I will be very sad._

_~End disclaimer_

Truth be told, I really just wanted to use the squiggly ~

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

Rangiku Matsumoto has always considered herself an observant person, able to pick up any emotion or stray feeling. She was the first person to point out Ichigo's rather blatant feelings towards a certain chappy lover. She noticed the sexual tension between Momo and Kira and pushed them together without batting an eyelash. So when her captain excuses himself saying he is meeting up with an old friend, Rangiku has no choice but to follow him.

Rangiku shifts uncomfortably as the wind blows through her hair. She is currently perching on top of Karakura High School's roof, gazing down at the clearing in confusion.

The high school had just been released moments ago, and now students are flowing out the front doors. What really surprises Rangiku is that Toshiro is leaning against a wall just inside the campus entrance, glancing through the crowd as if he is searching for someone.

Rangiku narrows her eyes, who could he be possibly be waiting for? She had never known her captain to make friends with the high schoolers, there was only a small group of people he ever visited and she had met all of them at least once.

The students have almost completely cleared out in the courtyard, but Toshiro hasn't moved an inch, his gaze focused on the school's front doors. Suddenly, his eyes light up and he pushes off against the wall. Rangiku cranes her neck, trying to get a glance at the person who has caused such a sudden change in her usually ice cold captain.

A girl with dark hair slides through the doors and waves lightly at Toshiro. He smiles back, and Rangiku can't help but smile as she recognizes the high schooler.

The girl crosses over to Toshiro and he reaches out one hand towards her, his smile growing wider by the second. She accepts gratefully and the two entwine their fingers, walking off campus together.

"Karin Kurosaki," Rangiku can't help but mutter under her breath as said girl rests her head on the now taller teen's shoulder.

_I should have seen the signs_, she thinks to herself humorously_. How could I have missed it? Let me think, I remember when I first saw them together…_

_**Flashback:**_

"_Captain, are you spying on a middle school girl?" Rangiku laughs out her question as her captain's face goes from emotionless to fury in mere seconds._

"_No!" he sputters out, "That is Kurosaki's little sister. I am merely gathering some intel."_

_Rangiku nods and looks down at the girl. She is kicking a soccer ball with her friends and yelling enthusiastically when she wants the ball to come into her possession._

_Toshiro stands up from where he was perched, brushing off his pants. "I think I have done enough for today."_

_Rangiku can't help but poke at her captain, "Are you going to go watch Yuzu too?"_

_Toshiro looks over at her, confused, "Who?"_

_Rangiku smiles, ruffling her captain's hair with one hand good naturedly. "Oh… no one."_

_Toshiro turns away from her, grumbling under his breath about her messing up his hair. He looks back down at Karin and her friends._

_Down below, Karin has just scored a goal on her friend and the others have started celebrating as loudly as possible. The nearest one let out a loud whoop and leaps over to Karin, scooping her up in a huge hug. She laughs and hugs him back, causing an unknown expression to flash across Toshiro's face._

_Rangiku glances at her captain, and Toshiro's eyes snap to hers, his face returned to one of indifference. _

_Rangiku blinks, she must be seeing things..._

_**Flashback over**_

"That should have been my first hint." Rangiku can't help but groan at herself for missing that, it was so obvious that her captain had feelings for the girl.

Rangiku thinks back to only a few months ago, the next time she had seen Karin Kurosaki, it should have been her next big hint, too bad she was distracted with her own straying thoughts.

_**Flashback:**_

"_So… Gin was spotted here yesterday?" Toshiro is all business as he questions a nervous looking Ichigo Kurosaki._

_Ichigo nods, his face sober as he keeps one eye on Toshiro and one on his home. "Yesterday afternoon, he was just hanging out on my front porch waiting for me to come home from the market. I immediately questioned him, but he just smiled and said he was feeling lonely. Then he left."_

_Toshiro jots this down on a notepad, "He didn't disclose any ulterior motive?"_

_Ichigo shakes his head, "No."_

_Toshiro makes another quick jot. "Did he harm anyone in your family?"_

_If Rangiku had been paying attention, she would have noticed Toshiro's grip tighten on his pen ever so slightly, and the air around them drop half of a degree._

_Ichigo shakes his head again, and Toshiro tries to hide his obvious relief by scribbling down more notes._

_He glances up towards the house and notices the two Kurosaki twins are watching from a window. Karin meets his steady gaze before waving shyly._

_Toshiro nods at her once before returning to Ichigo._

_**Flashback over**_

Rangiku jumps off the school roof, fully intending to follow the two teens. They can't just get together and not tell her!

"I should have known," she grumbles again to herself. There was one more hint, and really, Rangiku should have only needed one…

_**Flashback:**_

_Rangiku kicks on the Kurosaki household front door urgently, her captain hanging limp in her arms._

_Even though it is 3 am, Isshin answers the door promptly and ushers the two Soul Reapers into his home._

"_Everyone is sleeping," he explains quickly as he throws down newspaper onto his kitchen table so Rangiku can put down the injured teen._

_Isshin begins treatment on Toshiro immediately, stripping off his shihaksho. "What happened?"_

_Rangiku stands next to Isshin nervously as she responds, "We got into a fight with an arrancar and it overwhelmed us briefly with its strength, he couldn't get out of the way fast enough from one of its swings .It was a clean slice, but he blacked out from blood loss shortly after we defeated the hollow._

_Isshin nods, and he begins to treat the long would that stretches from Toshiro's shoulder to his navel. "It isn't too deep, I'll just need to stitch it a little and wrap it up."_

_Rangiku watches on as Isshin goes to work. After a few minutes of silence, a noise can be heard on the stairs, a slight creak. A teenage girl is coming down the stairs, rubbing the sleep from her eyes._

_Isshin glances up from his stitching briefly, "Karin… you should go back to bed,"_

_Karin freezes on the bottom step, absorbing the scene in front of her. "What happened?"_

_Isshin shakes his head, "It's nothing, a Soul Reaper got hurt, just go back to bed."_

_Karin ignores her father and rushes over to Rangiku, looking for an explanation._

_Rangiku doesn't look at the young teen, opting to stare at her injured captain._

_Isshin glances at his daughter one last time and sighs in defeat, "Fine, since you clearly aren't listening to me I guess you can stay."_

_Karin nods tightly, her eyes full of worry as she sees someone who is usually so strong knocked out on her own kitchen table._

_Silence retakes the group, and soon Isshin is done with his work. "He will be just fine," he tells Rangiku as he washes his hands in the sink. "All he needs is rest."_

_Rangiku thanks him quietly, and goes to sit on the couch. The only one who doesn't move is Karin, as her eyes are still trained on the long line running down Toshiro's body._

_Isshin briefly wonders how Karin knows Toshiro, but he lets it go for now, he'll ask later. He retreats up the stairs to hopefully make up for some of his lost sleep._

_A blur of emotions run across Karin's face as soon as her dad disappears from view. She gently places her hand down onto one of Toshiro's, watching his chest rise up and down. "Stupid," Karin's voice is barely a whisper and Rangiku barely catches the sentiment._

_She can't help but agree, he was being stupid. She dismisses Karin's behavior, anyone would be mad at a friend for getting himself nearly sliced in half…_

_**Flashback over**_

In retrospect, Rangiku realizes she should have seen this coming, from the very beginning.

"Can't catch em all," she smiles lightly as she finally catches up to the two lovebirds.

They have stopped underneath a large Oak tree, and her captain is being surprisingly daring. He backs Karin up against the tree and brings his lips to hers sweetly. She responds eagerly, making Rangiku think this isn't the first time they've done this.

After watching for a moment more, Rangiku decides she shouldn't stay. She knows she wouldn't want anyone watching her and... well it doesn't matter who doing anything from a distance. She takes a few steps back, going back to her thoughts. _I wonder how Ichigo and Rukia are doing…_

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Well there we go, I hope you all liked it!

I know it is mostly flashback, but that was the goal, Rangiku is just there as a connector.

Please leave a review, they really make my day.

Oh, and also, I have a poll on my profile page where I asked if you like IchiRuki better than HitsuKarin, and guys, right now IchiRuki is winning, you guys need a comeback!


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